Gradually in Love
by SurroundingShadows
Summary: Severus Snape had gone and done the most imbecilic thing he could think of.  AU. OOC-ness. Slight fluff. One-shot.


**A/N:** The first fic I've posted. Yay me? I probably have two dozen one-shots but this is the only completed one that I actually somewhat like.

**A/N 2:** Just fixed a few grammatical and spelling errors, so, sorry if you saw it was updated and thought I made it longer or somethng! D:

**Disclaimer:** Everything recognizable in the fic doesn't belong to me. Even if it isn't recognizable, it _still_ probably doesn't belong to me. Possibly only the plot(or lack thereof) is mine. It all belongs to the wonderfully talented J.K. Rowling and all of her publishing partners. I make no money from this, and no insult in intended.

**Warnings:** Um, none that I can think of. Well, Harry is underage, but nothing more than a bit of fluff happens! Oh, and OOC! Might need to know that bit also.

* * *

><p>Severus Snape had gone and done the most imbecilic thing he could think of.<p>

He really didn't know how it had happened. Truly, he thought, he must be going crazy. It seemed like a joke at first, Potter slowly smiled more and more at him, being more polite. Granger was proud of him for finally showing respect to his teacher, Weasley just put on a sour face and pretended he didn't see it.

Then, he thought it must be some sort of prank. Surely Potter didn't actually _like_ the class and all of his taunting remarks, yet he started trying harder, and surprisingly was among the top of the class. It just had to be a prank; there was no other fathomable explanation for Severus, right?

A month later it really started bothering him. He could always feel when Potter's eyes were on him. All the subtle glances in class and in the halls became more and more obvious to him. He couldn't figure out when he started getting used to it, he usually hated being the focus of people's attention when it wasn't class related, and the looks definitely weren't school related. He tried ignoring Potter as best he could, but in the end it was in vain.

He started noticing little things about the Potter brat. Potter had grown over the summer; his skin was tanner and looked smooth. His hair, raven colored and silky in appearance, now reach down almost to his shoulders and looked more tamable, but still had that messy quality that looked purposeful. He had gained muscle, as if he had worked out all summer. He noticed how Harry wasn't as arrogant as he previously presumed; he was just acting like the courageous Gryffindor people expected of him. But when he wasn't around his friends he usually sat in a quiet alcove reading a book, or petting his snowy owl. He was shy and reserved, yet very cunning with the way he got around his friends prodding questions and the subtle way he got them to do things or help him.

One day when he had the Sixth Year Gryffindors and Slytherins, something was extremely wrong. The Slytherins looked positively gleeful while the Gryffindors were miserable and some were sniffling. He had no idea what would cause this until he noticed something, Harry Potter was missing from class. He acted like nothing was wrong, but he couldn't help notice that he actually seemed _worried_ about the boy. He was hoping his students were overreacting and he only got in trouble for doing something incredibly stupid, _again._ But of course, it couldn't be that. Potter crashed while flying, and had been unconscious since after dinner the previous night.

The rest of the day passed, and he became more and more agitated with ever class since he could hear their whispered conversations about Potter. With every class he tried to squash the little voice that kept badgering him about going to see Potter for himself. Finally, when he didn't see the teen at dinner, his resolve broke and he walked to the Hospital Wing close to curfew, hoping no other students or professors were in there. Lucky, no one was; and Poppy was in her office and didn't seem to notice him enter.

When he got to Harry's bed-not even trying to squash the voice saying _when did he become Harry to you? -_ and looked at the teen, he looked so small and paler than usual. He didn't know what made him do it, but his hand was tenderly brushing Harry's hair to the side and gently stroking his check for a moment. Harry sighed contentedly and seemed to lean into the touch before Severus realized what he had done and pulled his hand away as if burned. He looked at his hand as if it was an object never before seen. Before sighing and sitting in the chair next to Harry's bed.

"You can never leave me alone can you? Either I'm thinking about you in a negative way, or now, I'm not entirely sure what I'm thinking." He whispered, slightly amused with his situation. He sat there for several minutes, thinking over exactly what he felt when Harry started whimpering and slightly trembling. Snape automatically took his hand and started shushing him, trying to calm him down. After he quieted down, Severus continued holding his hand.

Not knowing why exactly, he blurted out "I love you." So softly he barely heard it himself. But as soon it was out, he knew it was true, and if it wasn't love exactly, he knew he at least strongly like Harry and cared for the teen. He looked up sharply when he heard a small gasp and saw impossibly bright green eyes staring back at him. Harry opened and closed his mouth a few times, finally saying in a rush "I love you, too" and immediately blushed and looked away.

Severus, unsurprisingly, was shocked. After getting his bearings back, he reached out and gently took Harry's chin and turned his face back towards him. He had a small smile on his face, and the beaming smile Harry returned to him was breathtaking. He hesitantly leaned forward and briefly brushed his lips against Harry's. Harry smiled and snuggled back down into the hospital bed and fell back to sleep, with a small smile on his face. He realized Harry still had a hold on his hand, so he settled into the chair and fell asleep also.

Madam Pomfrey, having heard everything thanks to the charms she had up to know when a patient woke, rushed out and set up a privacy curtain so no students would walk in and see them. With a shake of her head and a fond smile, she walked back to her office, glad two of the people who most deserved love, found it.

Severus Snape had gone and done the most imbecilic thing he could think of. He fell in love with Harry Potter. Later on though, he couldn't say he regretted it.

* * *

><p>The End!<p>

I shall not ask for reviews, but they _are_ greatly appreciated. If there are any spelling or grammar errors feel free to yell at me about them, I'll get around to fixing them eventually. Not beta'd so there probably are a few. *grins*

Hope you enjoyed it! -Clueless


End file.
